AHL Calder Cup Final Game Had One Of The Strangest Endings Of All-Time
Taking a drink during a faceoff, goaltender gets scored upon with his back pointed away from the net.
The Stanley Cup Final has produced its fair share of wild overtime action, but the fellas down in the American Hockey League would like you to hold their beer, because I don't know that we've ever seen as strange a scene as we got during Game 1 of the Calder Cup Final.
For the first time since 2022, the Calder Cup Final does not pit my hometown and back-to-back championship-winning Hershey Bears against the Coachella Valley Firebirds, who have now missed the Calder Cup Final for the first time in their three-year existence (which is insanely impressive).
Instead, this year's final pits the Charlotte Checkers, the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, against the Abbotsford Canucks, who are, of course, affiliated with the Vancouver Canucks.
Game 1 took place in Charlotte, and both teams battled to a 3-3 tie through regulation. Neither team managed to score in the first overtime period.
Then, just a few minutes into the second overtime, there was a faceoff in the Canucks' zone. Understandably, having already played 80 minutes in net, Canucks netminder Arturs Silovs was pretty parched and helped himself to a drink between whistles.
It was one hell of a drink, and he failed to realize that the linesman had dropped the puck in the faceoff circle to the right of the net, and the Checkers buried it almost as soon as it hit the ice for the win.
But there was a catch.
It was decided that the goal didn't count because Silovs wasn't ready, and I'm not sure how I feel about that one. I get it, but I find it hard to believe that not a single Canuck on the ice or the bench saw him with his back turned and was like, "Hey, buddy, turn around, please."
I mean, I've definitely seen goalies get caught watching replays on the Jumbotron and stuff like that, but I guess it's on the linesman to make sure everyone is ready.
Anyway, as you may have guessed, this was what you'd call a "biggie."
Around five minutes later, the Canucks hit paydirt to take a 1-0 series lead.
Even wilder, look at who is being heralded as a hero: Silovs.
He threw down a monster 51-save performance, but had that Checkers goal stood, I don't think it would've mattered if he had made 100 saves; he would have been hearing it for a long time.
There's still plenty of hockey to be played, however, and we'll see if these two teams can top a wild Game 1.